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Which blog -format- should we use? (Ignore coloring/images. Max 3 votes)

Snowman
2 (6.1%)
Nature's Temper
3 (9.1%)
Love 2
2 (6.1%)
Galactica
9 (27.3%)
Viba
0 (0%)
Minimalism
2 (6.1%)
Photography Bliss
4 (12.1%)
PENFURNEX
1 (3%)
Piano Black
4 (12.1%)
Clean Simple White
1 (3%)
Edegree
3 (9.1%)
Water
1 (3%)
Vostok
0 (0%)
Other (please state + link to)
1 (3%)

Total Members Voted: 16

Voting closed: September 05, 2010, 03:01:17 AM

Author Topic: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin  (Read 1999 times)

Taishyr

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DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« on: August 26, 2010, 03:01:17 AM »
In the ongoing effort to prove that democracy is a totally idiotic idea that should never have fermented, it is time for the DL to choose the skin for its new blog!

Please choose from the following links, -or-, if you think you've got a totally awesome skin that's not listed, go ahead and toss it up (though know it's gonna be at a disadvantage already, by not being in the first rush).

Oh, and: Do not decide based on colors/pictures, but rather the design - where widgets, menus, titles, labels, etc., are, and the respective sizes and placements of everything! Why? Well, we can easily change colors, but format's a pain in the ass. We'll deal with colors in the next step, most likely. So we'll get this going with the necessary step first. And please do check all nine first. Shouldn't take long, honestly, and getting honest feedback on ideas would be v. cool.

FINAL LIST NOT IN YET, BUT FEEL FREE TO LOOK THESE OVER AS YOU WAIT
Skin 1: Snowman. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/snowman/
Skin 2: Nature's Temper. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/natures-temper/
Skin 3: Love 2. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/love-2/
Skin 4: Galactica. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Galactica
Skin 5: Viba. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Viba
Skin 6: Minimalism. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Minimalism
Skin 7: Photography Bliss. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Photography-Bliss
Skin 8: PENFURNEX. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/PENFURNEX
Skin 9: Piano Black. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/piano-black
Skin 10: Clean Simple White. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/clean-simple-white
Skin 11: Edegree. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/edegree
Skin 12: Water. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/water
Skin 13: Vostok. http://www.vostoktheme.com/

You have (however many days it needs to get a good response) days. Go go go go go~!
« Last Edit: August 26, 2010, 03:59:41 AM by Taitoro »

DjinnAndTonic

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2010, 03:42:03 AM »
Thoughts now, voting later when Tai is ready.

Skin 1: Snowman. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/snowman/
- Pretty terrible. Not a fan of the 3-column layout. Header size is way too huge.

Skin 2: Nature's Temper. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/natures-temper/
- Decent. The tabs at the top are poorly designed, but I feel having our main pages at the top like that are a good idea. Rest of the layout is serviceable.

Skin 3: Love 2. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/love-2/
- Good. I like the boxing here. 2-column format. Page buttons are just below the Header image. Header image isn't insanely large. Title is well-sized. Not a huge fan of the Blogpost buttons/sizing, but otherwise usable.

Skin 4: Galactica. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Galactica
- Personal Favorite. Good sizing for boxes and columns. 2-column format. Widget placement is simple and sensible. Header image and title placement look really nice. Blogpost sizing and buttons look good. Only complaint is that the Page Buttons are little too small, though the placement is spot-on.

Skin 5: Viba. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Viba
- Really really hate this one. Page Buttons are in the wrong place, and poorly-sized so that they're impossible to see. Widget placement is awkward. And worst of all is the terrible indenting next each Blogpost. Who thought that was a good idea?

Skin 6: Minimalism. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Minimalism
- Boring. Simple is good, but this is snooze-worthy.

Skin 7: Photography Bliss. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/Photography+Bliss
- Good. The Page Buttons are a little awkward, especially with the way that they cut into the Header image. Not a fan of 3-column format for the DL site. We just don't need a third column for what we're presenting. Worth noting that I REALLY dig the color scheme.

Skin 8: PENFURNEX. http://www.wordpressthemes2.com/PENFURNEX
- Bad. Title is smuggled into the Header image in an interesting way, though hard-to-use for any other image. Blogpost boxing and button-sizing is awkward.

Skin 9: Piano Black. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/piano-black
- Terrible. Page buttons are large and empty-looking and hidden at the top of the page instead of nestled just below the Header image near where the content actually starts. Header image is poorly sized. It detracts from Post content. HOLY CRAP WHY DO THE DROPDOWN MENUS HAVE A SLOW ANIMATION?! Who thought that was good design?!

Skin 10: Clean Simple White. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/clean-simple-white
- Worse. All the same problems as the above, except starker, plainer, and oversized.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2010, 04:17:08 AM by DjinnAndTonic »

Cmdr_King

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2010, 03:56:09 AM »
Hm.  I like the love2.  Menus are nice and readable, the layout makes sense to me, and I prefer the abridged article look.  If we wanted full articles, the penfurnex is probably the best there; same overall layout to the love2, just with that change.
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Taishyr

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2010, 03:58:46 AM »
Re: abridged/full articles, I believe all the WP setups have that option.

mia~

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2010, 04:05:05 AM »
I suggested water because the colors/etc editing can hopefully be done without you guys driving Hal insane. : p


Idun

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2010, 04:09:04 AM »
Voted already.

Nature's Temper: Fairly balanced, though the banner bar takes up a bit too much space. Either way, the fact that it doesn't fill up the whole page (which gives the impression of text-heaviness) seems to offer up potential for adding a nice graphic background or simply balancing out the text. Quite fond of the smallness of the tagline. Fond of the placement of the search bar. I don't like calendars - reminds me too much of someone's personal blog *coughorlivejournalcough*. Fond of the image before entries, especially if multiple people are updating with whatever material. Only thing is I think the sidebar is a bit too small, especially if you're adding a tournament widget. They can be resized though, no?

Piano Black* Does what Nature does, just a smidge bit better. Also liked that it was pretty monochrome, which gave me the chance to focus more on placement. The style is better - the main nav bar is separated from the banner/entries. This is a two column...layout though. >_> Good balance of a place to put the logo, a larger second column which gives more freedom to play around with stuff. I like the way the basic tables look with the format. Either way, the lesser emphasis on the graphic of the logo and designs of separator bars really helps me focus on the main text of the page. Just large enough to leave about an inch or two of a solid background, etc. Not particular fond of the rounded bottom, but I don't feel like that's much of an issue. Actually gives the page a bit more style instead of being square heavy.

Edegree* Primarily since I suggested it. (: No, really. No. Anyway. Definitely like the way the subpages look though its inconsistent with the style (and can be easily remedied). Again, like the search bar at the top. Like the size of the banner rather than being the usual long rectangle. Unfortunately it makes the transition to the entries a bit distracting, but the size of the text for the entries balances it just a smidge. Definitely like the advertisement of the about us on the front page, which can reaaaaaally be used to help promote duels/stats/results more immediately than finding it on the second column. Now, I totally hate the spacing of the title bars and them not taking up the entire space of that column. If those can't be fixed, I'd scrap this entire layout. Like the line spacing in the paragraphs, basic text to go with it. Needs a tag cloud, really.




---
disclaimer:
I'm voting. K. I don't know how people want to place stuff, so, THAR.



superaielman

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2010, 12:37:53 AM »
Kneejerked for nature's temper.
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Idun

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2010, 07:50:28 PM »
So what happened to this? I thought it had some immediacy, but is the DL projecting a new page directory (someone said the main link will transfer you to the new page) in the next couple of months?

DjinnAndTonic

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2010, 11:23:32 PM »
I'm guessing it's still a "Hal is busy" issue... The DL isn't exactly his top priority~ :P

Idun

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Re: DL Blog Round 1: Choosing a Skin
« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2010, 06:09:00 PM »
Gotcha.